Kaspersky’s Eye-Tracking Tech Takes On Magnus Carlsen

Kaspersky, known for its prowess in cybersecurity, decided to bring that expertise to the chessboard in an unexpected way. Their question: if you could see where a grandmaster was looking, would it give you an advantage? The experiment aimed to find out — by tracking the eye movements of none other than Magnus Carlsen, the world’s top chess player, as he faced off against Trent Alexander-Arnold, the Liverpool FC star and a dedicated chess enthusiast.

Outfitted with Kaspersky’s eye-tracking tech, Trent would see exactly what Magnus saw, hoping that access to the champion’s visual cues would provide a competitive edge. The tech was cutting-edge, designed to capture split-second shifts in focus, each glance and double-check. With this direct line into Carlsen’s thought process, could Trent anticipate Magnus’s next moves?

As it turns out, seeing isn’t quite believing. Despite the advantage of tracking Carlsen’s gaze, Trent still couldn’t topple the grandmaster. Carlsen won handily, proving that even with insights into a master’s focus, replicating the thought process behind it is another game entirely. But the match itself — and its unexpected glimpse into the visual pathways of a champion’s mind — lit up the internet. Kaspersky’s experiment went viral, racking up over 2,500 articles, 30,000 social mentions, and 100 million impressions, giving the chess world a high-tech twist on the art of strategy.

Project in Numbers

2500 pieces of coverage
30,000 SM mentions
100+m media impressions

Read the Independent